Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Momentum Workout · 2026-09-21
IELTS Writing Task 2 question
Concern for the environment is growing and more and more people are choosing to recycle. But some people suggest that recycling is not enough. They believe we need to consume less.
Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge and experience.
Student answer (Band 5.5)
In the recent years concern for sustaining the enviroment have become more popular, resulting in increase of recylcling, however certain individual believe that just recycling is not sufficient enough for sustaining the environment rather we should also consume less. In my opinion i agree with the people suggesting that recycling alone is not enough, However i do believe that it also plays a major role in reducing harm to the enviroment, Recycling helps in keeping the enviroment clean and free from more waste products such as plastics but consuming them less would also have a similiar effect.
Firstly, recyling goods plays a major role in helping the environment, for example plastic happens to be the most dangerous and least decomposible material which puts our environment at risk, but plastic is also one the most recycle-able material. recycling plastics would help in less production of it, as the giant companies would not have to spend more fortune on producing it, resulting in less waste material that takes thousands of year to decompose,
Secondly, just relying on the first bit and not collectively working to consume less products that are hazardous to environment will bring no good, because any product can not be restored and recycled again and again, discouraging the use of such environmently hostile material will also discourage big companies to decrease the production of such goods, and might even encourage alot of these corporates to start investing more in sustainable goods and help in achieving sustainablity
In conclusion, recycling of goods and commodities is a good intiative to help earth recover and make it better for the future generations, this step alone will not suffice we need to make sure that other methods such as consuming less and all the other necessary intiatives are being followed and implemented as well.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response successfully addresses all parts of the task by discussing both the view that recycling is crucial and the view that consuming less is necessary. A clear position is stated in the introduction and maintained throughout the essay. The student develops relevant ideas, such as how recycling reduces plastic waste and how consuming less puts pressure on corporate production. However, some arguments tend to be a bit repetitive and could be extended further with more specific examples or broader socio-economic context. Overall, the task is addressed competently, aligning well with the requirements for a Band 6.5 or solid Band 6 performance.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear paragraph structure, moving from an introduction to body paragraphs discussing each viewpoint, and concluding with a summary. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'Firstly,' 'Secondly,' and 'In conclusion,' though referencing and transitions can occasionally feel mechanical or run-on. For example, some sentences are excessively long and rely heavily on commas rather than full stops or varied conjunctions, which disrupts the natural logical flow. Paragraphing is present and appropriate, but internal sentence linking requires tighter control to achieve a higher band score.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as 'decomposible,' 'sustainablity,' and 'intiative.' However, there are notable spelling errors throughout the text, including 'enviroment' instead of environment, 'recylcling' instead of recycling, 'individual' instead of individuals, and 'environmently' instead of environmentally. Word choices are sometimes imprecise, such as 'spend more fortune' rather than 'spend a fortune.' While these errors do not severely impede communication, their frequency prevents the lexical score from reaching Band 7.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The essay features a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating an attempt to use relative clauses and conditional structures. However, grammatical control is inconsistent. There are frequent punctuation errors, particularly run-on sentences connected incorrectly by commas (e.g., '...plastic is also one the most recycle-able material. recycling plastics...'). Article usage and capitalization are also problematic, such as lower-case 'i' used for the pronoun 'I' ('In my opinion i agree...'). Complex structures often contain minor errors, though they rarely impede overall comprehension, placing this firmly in the Band 5.5 to 6.0 range.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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